Heather Martin has been meditating since 1972, and practicing Vipassana since 1981. Beginning with S.N. Goenka, she has since been influenced by both Burmese and Thai streams of the Theravada tradition, and by Tibetan Dzogchen with Tsoknyi Rinpoche. Most recently she has been studying with Burmese Sayadaw U Tejaniya.

Her practical and wholehearted approach embodies ease and joy, while grounded in realism.

She has been leading retreats in Canada and the US since 2001. She worked for 20 years as a midwife, and lives on Salt Spring Island, off the south coast of B.C. For more information and Heather's teaching schedule, please visit: ssivipassana.org.

By welcoming joy we become content, so we relax, thus letting go of the need to do something - anything about it - thus calming down. Inner and/or outer joy facilitates the shift from doing to being - from trying to letting go - crucial steps on the path to awakening.